Ironing machine



March 16 1926.

T. J. ARBRON IRONING MACHINE Filed May 16, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet l 12| lllllllllllllllll I J. IH u l.:|...|:H.|:.H..I...l:.|.\.H. .1.

March 16 1926. 1,576,804

T. J. ARBRON IRONING MACHINE Filed May 16, 1925 4 Sheets-Shim*l 2 mi' 'I March 16 1926. 1,576,804

T. J. ARBRON l IRONING MACHINE Filed May 16, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 0mg @M20/L March 16 1926. 1,576,804

' T. J. ARBRON IRONING MACHINE Filed May 16. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 atroz uc Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED sima-'PlasN THOMAS J'. ARBRON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

PLIANOE CO., OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A

ASSIGNOR T0 THE PEFECTION A1- CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

IRONING MACHINE.

Application led May 16, w19-23. Serial No. 639.275.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. ARnRoN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Iron,

ing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ironing machines and has for its principal object the provision of means operated by the power mechanism to move -the shoe from and against the'roller. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a yielding mounting for the shoe whereby it may readily adapt itself to variations in thickness of the material being ironed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a roller. which has a free end and which is readily detachable from its driving shaft.

Other and further objects of the inventionv will appear in connection with the accompanying specification, reference being had to the drawings forming a portion thereof, in which v Figure 1 is an elevation of a preferred embodiment of my invention, parte being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-II of Fi 1; Fig. 3 is a detail showing a different position of parts of those indicated' in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section at .ri ht angles to that of Fig. 2;

1g. 5 1s a perspective view of a single revolution clutch mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectionv similar to that of Fig. 4, showing a modified form of the invention, and

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the clutch member and its operating lever used' in the modified form.

Upon a suitable wheeled base-1 is'mounted a' standard 2 upon the upper end of which is a bracket 3 forming Above the standar 2 is secured a gea-reasing 5 within which is a worm 6in mesh with' a worm gear 7 mounted upon a bushing 8 upon a shaft 9. The worm 6 is driven by a suitable motor not shown. Keyed upon the bushing 8 is a gear 10 in mesh .with a I comp ished.

a support for a table 4.

larger gear 11 rotatable upon a shaft 12. A clutch member 13, keyed to a bushing 14, which in turn is keyed to the shaft 12, is moved into and out of engagement with a clutch face formed in the ar 11, by means of a yoke 15 upon a cran 16 operated by a handle 17. A coil spring 18 upon the crank 16 normally acts to swing the shaft and yoke to hold the clutch member 13 in engagement with the ear 11. The end of the shaft 12 remote rom the gear 11 is screwthreaded to -receive'a casting 19 which forms a closed outer end for the roller 20. Within. the inner end of the roller 20 is secured a casting 21 journaled upon a hol-` low stud| '22 preferably integral with the gear casing 5, the inner end of the roller being `concentric with the shaft 12. Within the hollow interior of the stud 22 is secured one end of a steel tube 23, the outer end of which is mounted Within a cylindrical journal portion 240is the casting 19.

When the clutch memberL 13 is in engagement with the clutch face of the gear 11, rotation of the gear will cause rotation of the shaft 12 and consequently rotation of the roller 20, the inner end of the roller being journaled upon the stud 22 and the outer end of the roller being journaled upon the outer end of the tube 23. It will be apparent that the roller 20 may readily be unscrewed and disconnected from the shaft 12 `by rotating it in the normal direction of its movement when the gear 11 is at rest, and since there is no exterior bearing for the end of the roller remote from lthe gear casin removal of the roller is readily ac- A shoe 25 is loosely pivoted at 26 upon the upper ends of arms 27, these arms being centrally pivoted at 28 within brackets 29 secured upon or formedlinte al with the bracket 3. An abutment portion 30 of 'each lbracket 29fextends upward adjacentto the arms 27, the upper end of the portion 30 being provided' with a horizontal surface 31 adapted to receive a lug 32 formed upon the-lower side of the shoe 25.'

Pivotal movement of the armsl 27 willI cause movement of the shoe 25 toward or from the roller 20.'- As the shoe 25 is moved away from the roller 20, the lugs'32, 'will come into contact with the surface 31 of the brackets 29 to limit the rotational movement of the shoe" Upon continued 110 rearward movement of the shoe, the lugs 32 will come in contact with upwardly projecting stops 33 at the rear end of the surface 31 to limit the rearward movement of the lower end of the shoe, an-d continued rearward movement of the arms 27 will cause the upper end of the shoe to swing outward to the position indicated in Fig. 2.

Upon the bracket 3, is journaled a shaft 34 provided near its outer end with a crank 35 which is located at a point about midway between the lower ends of the arms 427. Pivoted upon the crank 35 is a link member 36 provided with a headed pin 37. This pin 37 is mounted within a link member 38 having axially thereof a bore 39 of a size to permit free sliding movement of the pin 37 but too small to permit passage of the head 40 of the pin 37. The link member 38 has a hollow interior 41 of a size to permit free movement of the head 40. The exterior of the inner end of the member 38 is screwthreaded to receive a nut 42. The member 36 has a flange 43, and surrounding the link members 36 and 38 between the nut 42 and the flange 43 is mounted a coil spring 44, the tension of which may be adjusted by rotation of the nut 42 upon the member 38. The outer end of the member 38 is bifurcated to receive the central part of a bar 45 which ispivotally secured to the member 38 by means of a pivot pin 46.

The lower ends of the arms 27 are provided with beveled perforations 47 to receive the cylindrical outer ends 48 of the bar 45. The purpose of the beveling is topermit relative angular movement between the equalizing bar 45 and the arms 27, the pivotal mounting of the center of the bar permitting swinging of the bar 45 as either ,arm 27 moves inward or outward.

In the position of parts indicated in Fig. 3 it will be seen that the crank 35 extends substantially in line between the shaft'34 and the pivoted center of the equalizing bar 45, the toggle action producing a firm outn ward thrust upon the center of the bar 45, but the spring 44 permits the center of the bar to -move toward the shaft 34 as the upper end 'of either of the arms 27 is forced outward, It will be apparent that this provides a resilient mounting for the shoe 25,

- enabling it to yield to conform to material of different thickness passed between the shoe and the roller 20.

The shoe 25 is heated in the ordinary way by means of a gas burner 49 within the hollow interior of the shoe.

Upon the inner end of the shaft 34, is a crank 50 connected by a link 51 with a wrist pin 52 mounted eccentrically of the pivot 53 of a gear 54 in mesh with a gear 55 rotatable upon the bushing 8. Mounted within a perforation within the gear 55 is a pivoted latch 56 pivoted at 57 and having one end projecting beyond the end of the gear to engage within recesses 58 in a clutch member 59 keyed upon the bushing 8.A A spring 60 normally tends to move the latch 56 into clutching engagement with the clutch member 59. A lever 61 is' pivoted at 62 upon the casing 5, and this lever is normally held in engagementnwith the latch member 56 by means of a spring 63 mounted upon a link 64.

In the embodiment herein illustrated the link 64 is provided with a head 66 arranged in a convenient position upon the upper surface of the casing 5. The spring 63 is ot' sufiicient strength to swing the lever 61 vabout its pivot in opposition to the resistance of the spring 60 and the latch 56 will therefore normally be held in the position indicated in Fig. 4 with 'its free end out of engagement with the clutch member' 59.

If the operator presses downward for an instant on the head 66, the lever 61 will be swung away from the latch 56 and the spring 60 will act immediately to swing the latch upon its pivot 57 into4 engagement with the clutch member 59 which is constantly rotating with the bushing 8 whenever the power shaft 61 is in operation. Rotation of the clutch 59 will cause rotation of the gear 55 carrying the latch 56, out of the range of action of the lever 61 so that even if the head 66 is immediately. released, it will not engage the latch until the gear 55 has vcompleted an entire revolution, whereupon the latch 56 travelling with the gear 55 will engage one side of the lever 61 and its free end will be forced out of engagement with the clutch member 59, whereupon the gear 55 will come to rest. The number of teeth in the gear 55 is half that of the gear 54, so that a single revolution of the gear 55 will cause a half revolution of the gear 54 and the resulting movement of the wrist pin and the link 51 will swing the cranks 50 and 35 from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. If the head 66 is depressed again, the gear 55 will be rotated as before, returning the cranks 50 and from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2.

`Movement of the cranks 50 and 35 will i cause the shoe 25 to be moved'toward or from the roller 20 and it will be evident that this movement will commence instantly as soon as the head 66 is pressed downward.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, a gear 67 replaces the gear l1 of the embodiment previously described, and this gear may be dished as illustrated, so that while the clutch face in engagement with the clutch member 13 ma'y occupy the same relative location as in the previous embodiment, the gear teeth are offset for engagement with a gear 68 secured to the worm gear 7, this' gear 68 having the face opposite the gear 7 provided with projections to engage recesses 69 in a clutch member 70 suitably fixed on a shaft 71 which replaces the shaft 9 of the other embodiment. A compression spring 72 presses against the opposite face of the clutch member 70. Upon the outer end of the shaft 7l is secured a crank larm 73 to which is pivoted the link 51, the other end of which is pivoted to the crank arm 50 secured to the shaft 34.

A cam lever 74 is mounted upon a pivot 75 corresponding to the pivot 62 of the previous embodiment, and this cam lever 74 may be operated by a link 64 precisely as in the other embodiment of the invention. The outer end 76 of the cam lever 74 is beveled on the side opposite the gear 68 for engagement with the correspondingly beveled cam surface 77 formed upon the clutch member 70, the downward pressure upon the beveled end 76 due to the spring at the upper end of the link 64 bein sulicient to withdraw the clutch member y 0 from its engagement with the gear 68 in opposition to the relatively weak compression spring 72. Downward pressure on the link 64 as in the previous embodiment will swing the cam lever 74 about its pivot, thus moving the beveled end 76 away from the cam surface 79 on the member 70, permitting the spring 72 to slide the clutch member 70 longitudinally of the shaft 71 into engagement with the clutch face of the gear 68 which is constantly rotating with the gear 7. The clutch member 70 will make a half revolution, and if the cam lever 74 has returned to its normal position the beveled surfaces upon the lever and the clutch member will be, brought linto contact, causing the withdrawal of the Aclutch member 70 from its engagement with the clutch face of the gear 68. Atthe inner end ofthe cam surface 77 is a curved recess 78, and the edge of the lever 74 has a' correspondingly curved portion 79 for engagement with the curved portion 78 so that asA the member 70 is thrust awa from the gear 68 by the engagement of t e beveled surfaces, the portion 79 of the cam lever will be brought Iinto contact with the recess 78 to hold the clutch member 70 and the shaft 71 from further rotation.

It will be seen that this form of clutch reduces the number of gears and permits the use of`a correspondin ly smaller space within the gear casin 5, th factors contributing to cheapen t e cost of production.

The advantages of a construction of the kind herein described will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The free o en end of the roller devoid of any exterior aring makes a much easier handling of certain pieces of` clothing possible, since there isnothing to interfere with the placing upon the roller of tubular pieces such as sleeves or skirts.' The unobstructedy open end enables the operator to utilize only so much of the roller as is necessary or desirable, and this greatly facilitates the handling of many articles. ,Y

Vhile it will be' obvious that many modi- {ications may be made in the details of contoward and from the roll, levers upon which the shoe is pivotally mounted, an equalizing bar having its ends universally connected to said levers, and resilient means actuating the equalizing bar, whereby the shoe is yieldably held against the roll for swinging movement about horizontal and transverse aXes to adapt itself to varying thicknesses of material being ironed.

`2. A11 ironing machine comprising a driven revoluble roll, an ironing shoe movable toward and from the roll, levers upon which the shoe is tiltable -for movement upon a longitudinal axis while free to swing transversely of its length, an equaliziiig bar having its ends loosely articulated with said levers, and resilient means connected to an intermediate portion of said equalizing bar to cause the levers to hold the shoe yieldingly against the roll.

3. A n ironing machine comprising a driven revoluble roll, an ironing shoe movable toward `and from the ro-ll, a pair of leversupon which the shoe is pivotally mounted, an equalizing bar pivoted to each ofthe levers so' that one lever may move in advance of the other, and means for moving the bar whereby to 'swing the levers to move the shoe toward and from the roll.

4. An ironing machine comprising a driv-A en revoluble roll, a tilta'ble ironing shoe movable toward and from the roll, levers upon which the shoe is pivoted for movement upon a longitudinal aXis while free to swing transversely of its length, an equalizing bar having itsj ends loosely connected to said levers, means for moving the bar whereby to swing the levers to move the shoe toward and away from the roll, and abutments en- `J`Lgageable by said shoe to cause tilting thereof when actuated byv said levers.-

5. An ironing machine including a casing, a hollow stud protruding from said casing,

a power driven shaft protruding from said casing through said stud and having an outer free end, a tube fixed in 4said stud and throu h which extends said shaft, and a roll a out said tube, sai-d roll having its outer end rotatably supported on said tube and driven from the free end of said shaft said roll'having its inner end rotatably supported on the hollow stud of said casing.

6. An ironing machine comprising a revoluble roll supported at one end only` driving means at the supported end of said roll for revolving it, an ironing shoe movab-le toward and from the roll` a pair of levers upon which the shoe is pivota-lly mounted, an equalizing bar having its ends loosely connected to each of the levers, and means for moving the bar including a crank shaft, a toggle connection between the crank shaft and the bar, and means actuated from said roll operating means for rocking the shaft whereby to move the levers to press the shoe against the roll.

7. An ironing machine comprising a driven shaft, a casing in which one end of the shaft is journaled, a hollow stud having an outer cylindrical surface concentric `with the shaft, a tube secured within the stud and surrounding the shaft, a roll having tWo end members, the one adjacent to the casing having an opening in its end concentric with the axis of the roll and mounted for rotation upon the outer cylindrical surface of the stud, the other end member having an axial recess iu threaded engagement with the outer end of the driven shaft and a second recess concentric with the shaft to receive the outer end of thetube.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS J. ARBRON. 

